A story that could have been written only for CSK, a story that needed a protagonist to rise from the ashes of defeat and then needed a hero at the end to put the finishing touches to the masterpiece; it was an IPL opener to remember.
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With CSK tottering at 84/6 and Kedar Jadhav having been forced to retire due to a hamstring injury, it seemed like only a miracle could save the yellow brigade.
And there he was, DJ Bravo, wielding his arms, wielding that bat and writing CSK’s script with skill, power and conviction.
But when he holed out on the last ball of the 19th over and only a wicket separated Mumbai from a win, you knew Kedar Jadhav had to pull off one of the unlikeliest of wins to bail CSK out of that slump.
He could barely move, he could barely take that front foot out of the way, but he gave himself 6 balls, or at least that was what he had planned and on the 4th ball of the over, he got across, sat down on one knee and hoicked Mustafizur Rehman for a huge six over fine leg.
The field had then come in but they were mere spectators anyway, as Jadhav caressed the ball through the covers to gift CSK an unlikely win.
The ever so pragmatic MS Dhoni did not quite expect a CSK win whilst sitting in that dressing room at 84/6 and wanted the margin of defeat to be as minimal as possible.
“I think they missed the competition (on Wankhede fans cheering CSK). CSK-MI is one game that people wait to watch. Support has always been there wherever we’ve played. We’re coming back after two years, that’s also the reason that people are eager to watch us in action. Overall the spectators have been very good. I’m a practical person, so I was hoping in the dressing room that the quantum of defeat shouldn’t be too big. The idea was – if there’s a chance to win, go for it, but also try to get closer to the target. The way Bravo batted, it was really good to see him take the responsibility. Don’t think we batted well as a team. But it’s the first game, so we’ll take the positives out of it. Those will be more important for us in the coming games. The kind of players we have got, our selection will be based on horses for courses where we’ll see the wicket and then decide. We’ll also keep an eye for players who are injury prone. We’ll have to keep an eye on lot of things. We have quite a few who can bat and bowl.” Dhoni said.
